India Sri Lanka Test Series: A Review

Mahendra Singh Dhoni couldn't have asked for more. A 2-0 scoreline against a team that many felt was the best Sri Lankan team ever to come visiting on Indian soil. Two hundreds by him in contrasting circumstances, one when India was not yet out of the woods at 157-5 in Ahmedabad, and one when they needed to ensure they batted only once at the Brabourne in Mumbai. And to top it all, the No. 1 ranking for India in the ICC Test standings. A captain couldn't be happier.

However, a top ranked team should always look to iron out whatever deficiencies it perceives are remaining in the side. While it may seem like one is playing spoilsport amidst all the hype and hoopla surrounding Team India's ascent to No.1, here are a few points for the team management to ponder over.

1. The chairman of selectors has painted the town red claiming that India has the best top 7 in the world. While one would would tend to agree with him as far as 6 of the 7 are concerned, doubts still persist over Yuvraj Singh. He may have hit half centuries in 2 of the 3 innings he played in the series, however, all of his 3 dismissals were to his old nemesis, spin. While at Ahmedabad, he made the cardinal mistake of stepping out to kill the spin of Murali with BOTH bat and pad, he was tricked in the flight by Herath at Mumbai while holing out to midwicket at Kanpur off Mendis. Though he did show a marked improvement in not lunging forward to play the spinners, it cannot be said with confidence that he has it in him to face a quality spin attack on a surface affording some turn. He will be spending most of his Test career playing on such tracks on the sub continent. If he has to enjoy a long run in the Test side, he will have to spend more time facing Bhajji and Co. in the nets. Perennial reserve Subramanium Badrinath has already served a reminder to the selectors with his marathon 250 against Mumbai that lifted Tamil Nadu from 50-5 to 501.

2. Harbhajan Singh was the highest wicket taker for India with 13 wickets. 5 of those were tailenders and 2 were gifts from the umpires at Mumbai, Dilshan being the unlucky victim in both innings. Morever, the wickets cost him 41 runs apiece. That's way too costly for the team's senior spin bowler. Harbhajan's average has been steadily going uphill over the years and now stands at almost 31. Worryingly, his tendency to stray down the legside is becoming too frequent. Even on the 4th day at Mumbai, with India sitting pretty on a lead of more than 300, batsmen were able to work him away to square for runs. Watching from the stands, one felt the pace at which he was bowling was too fast to trouble the batsmen. Further, the lines he bowled allowed the batsmen to leave the delivery too often. Given Bhajji's pedigree, India should have finished the match on the 4th evening itself. It is a telling comment on the spinners that on a pitch offering considerable turn from Day 1 itself, 6 of the 10 wickets in the Lankan second innings fell to pace. The lack of spin bowling talent at the domestic level is alarming as well. For the land of the famed Spin Quartet of the '70s, it is shocking that apart from Bhajji, Ojha and Mishra, no other spinner seems worthy of a Test cap at present.

3. The case of Ishant Sharma gets curiouser and curiouser. The latest pace bowling sensation has been steadily going downhill this year. He has lost considerably in pace and is just not able to exert a decent amount of control on the batsmen. Too often, he has wasted the new ball, spraying it all around. And when batsmen of the calibre of Mahela Jayawardena know that all you are going to do with the new ball is just bring it in off a good length from off stump so that it ends up almost on leg stump, you are a sitting duck. The pitch at Ahmedabad was no paradise for pace, but that was not the only thing bothering Ishant. There have been rumours that erstwhile bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad confused the young man into sacrificing pace for line and length with the result that the poor boy is now somewhere in between the two. Guru Gary needs to work on the lad. Sooner the better.

4. Amit Mishra has carried the drinks far too often in the recent past. It told in his performance at Ahmedabad where he bowled atleast one 'hit me' ball per over. He earlier used to have pretty decent control over his repertoire but was all over the place at the Motera conceding a double century for his only wicket. However, this problem seems the most easily rectifiable. He needs to get more games. If he is not assured of a place in the XI, he should be released to play first class cricket. Bowling in the nets is not going to help.

While the Indian camp might not seem to be brimming over with problems, the Sri Lankans seemed like wallowing in a sea of them. Nothing went right for them in this series apart from the first session at Ahmedabad. A sampler:

1. The batting looks thin. While Paravanithana got starts, he is still new to Test cricket and needs a lot more time to develop his patience. For all his eloquence at press conferences, Kumar Sangakkara seemed to find new ways of getting out each time. Apart from the magnificent 2nd innings effort at the Brabourne, he just couldn't get going. Samaraweera's reputation of being a run machine preceded him, but he was unable to get the huge scores he normally does in Lanka. Mahela Jayawardena did little apart from his marathon 275 at Ahmedabad. He threw away both the starts he got in the 1st innings at Kanpur and Mumbai while Kumar sold him a dummy in the 2nd innings at Kanpur. If not for keeper Jayawardena's solid contributions, Lanka would have been in far greater trouble. Dilshan looked dangerous but umpiring errors cost him dearly at Mumbai.

2. A genuine all-rounder can hold his place in the side on the strength of his batting or bowling alone. While Angelo Matthews has potential, he has miles to go as a Test level batsman. His bowling seemed pedestrian on these pitches against a marauding Indian batting line-up. It was a needless show of bravado going in with one seam bowler and Matthews at Kanpur.

3. The word is out. Murali is past his best. The ageing champion, being the freak off spinner that he is, relied on his wrists to get the ball to turn even on a shirtfront. The wrists have lost their strength over the years which means those fizzing off spinners and top spinners have lost their fizz. It was sad to see him get mauled by the Indians, especially Sehwag. Its time to move on for the great man. Maybe a home series on his favourite Galle. But thats only for the sentiment value.

4. 'Mystery' cannot help you sustain an entire career in international cricket. Ajantha Mendis has been sorted out by the Indians. Period. You cannot just rely on the carrom ball, mate. The control is nowhere near what it was in that dream series in Sri Lanka when he mesmerised the Indians.

A final word on the field placings. Modern day captains are known to be defensive but having a deep point in place almost all day long takes the cake. Both captains were guilty of this modern malaise. Guys, whatever happened to good old backward point? Old Jonty must be grimacing down in South Africa. He would have preferred to go off the field.